Collecting on a judgement from a company that closed

[azo313]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Michigan

I am located in Michigan. The company I am suing is in San Diego, California. They owe me $7,200 (Cali limit is $7,500) and I filed a small claims lawsuit. There's a 95% chance I will get a judgment, since they clearly owe me the money.

My question is regarding what I can do *after* I obtain the judgment.

The company closed its doors on June 1st. They are no longer in business. But as far as I can tell, they have not filed bankruptcy. I called the California bankruptcy court and there are no filings (yet).

Lets assume I get this judgment (I should). What would be my next step to try to collect from a company that's closed? I realize I may never get any money, but what's the best thing to try? Can I try to place liens on any property they own? How can I find this property? Is it something I can do myself by researching court forms, etc? Where can I find more information?

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

[Andy0192]

Was the company a corporation, partnership, or LLC?

Who did you file the suit against? Just the company itself?

[azo313]

The company is a corporation which had "Inc." in the name.

They had about 2,000+ employees and operated out of a large office building.

I filed suit against the company itself.

[JETX]

Lots of questions:
1) Since the defendant is a corporation, you are required to serve notice of the suit on their registered agent for service. Did you do that??
2) Contact the California Secretary of State and confirm that they 'closed' properly. A lot of closely held corporations (one or two shareholders, etc.) think that they can just lock the doors.... and be out of business. Not that simple and there are legal requirements they must follow.
3) If you get a judgment against the corporation, you will then have the great fun of trying to locate assets of
the company.... and what happened to them.

It is NOT going to be easy to do this inside the state... and much harder from out-of-state.

[azo313]

Originally Posted by JETX

Lots of questions:
1) Since the defendant is a corporation, you are required to serve notice of the suit on their registered agent for service. Did you do that??
2) Contact the California Secretary of State and confirm that they 'closed' properly. A lot of closely held corporations (one or two shareholders, etc.) think that they can just lock the doors.... and be out of business. Not that simple and there are legal requirements they must follow.
3) If you get a judgment against the corporation, you will then have the great fun of trying to locate assets of
the company.... and what happened to them.

It is NOT going to be easy to do this inside the state... and much harder from out-of-state.

1) Yes I served their registered agent.
2) I will contact California secretary of state as you mentioned.
3) How do I go about locating their assets? Where do I even start? I've never done that before. Any tips or suggestions?